I wrote this primarily for my climbing partners, people who risked roping up with me and taught me ice/alpine climbing in the Alps over a decade ago. But at a general level, it is also for my school and college friends, who will turn 50 along with me in 2024, a gentle reminder that we have only 50 more years left on this beautiful, fast-warming planet of ours; we need to plan and make every remaining year count and I hope this will inspire you to do the same!
Cogne 2022
As some of you know, I had negligible water-ice experience, and after some spicy alpine ice north faces in the Alps, I had not climbed alpine for 11 years since moving back to India; it was hard enough to juggle locally available rock, raising a teenaged boy, and a very hectic job, in Mumbai of all places. So in 2022 December, I hired a top mountain guide, Enrico, to brush up my alpine skills, and teach me ice, mixed, and dry-tooling over 5 intense climbing days. The cost was steep but so was the learning curve; I felt totally secure in his presence and could focus on pushing my technical skills to the limit, without ever worrying whether I’d get home safely. On the last day I followed a classic mixed line Monia Mena Sexocet (M6) quite competently.
While I also followed water ice up to WI4, classics such as Patri Gauche and Antares, my foot placements were crappy. I relied too much on my arm power, which meant I’d get pumped and needed like 1 hang per pitch even on TR. That is still very respectable for someone with so little ice experience as I had, but that’s where I left 2022 as I got busy with life.
Cogne 2023
I just got back from a 10-day trip with an awesome climbing partner, and I thought I’d write it up before work consumes me and I forget the details.
First, about Subhash, my climbing partner, a 32 yo IITian, data scientist, who since 3 years has been my main roped-climbing partner in Bangalore. I can name 100s of climbers on my friend list but I can count on my fingers those that actually climb with me and help me progress. And count on one hand, those exposed to all disciplines of climbing (bouldering, sport, trad, ice, dry-tooling, alpine) and still have some fingers free. Subhash is one of them. It was because of Subhash that I got integrated into Sethan bouldering scene with the current generation of climbers. Many climbers in my age group can afford a climbing trip to the Alps and I had dropped hints but it was Subhash who expressed interest in partnering with me for this trip and that’s how it all started. This is important because you can boulder with almost anyone; sport climb with most, but once we get into alpine one needs to be selective, and ice-climbing (for which just the approach can be short, serious mountaineering) is at the extreme.
Getting the visa itself was one huge adventure: having booked the visa slot in July and done all the paperwork, I only got the visa less than 48 hours before my trip; until then the trip was hanging by a thin wire. Good thing is, this time they gave me a visa valid for a whole year, so the next trip will have so much less drama. We flew from Bangalore to Milan together, rented a car there, and drove to Cogne. I first heard about Cogne from one of my early climbing partners, Ron from Israel, and we had contemplated going together many times but it never took off. Cogne is among the best ice climbing destinations in the whole of the Alps, so finally getting there with my own climbing partner was a big deal, a dream come true in itself.
We spent a total of 9 days climbing, based in the lovely Hotel La Barme in Valnontey, a small ski/climbing village in Cogne. We had left Bangalore at 4 am on Wednesday, and Thursday 9am we were already climbing ice in Cogne, and climbed the whole day! That’s way easier than I have experienced in my attempts to climb ice in the Indian Himalaya and I am still in disbelief.
On Day 1, on a nearby ice route, Thoule WI4, I began to see my climbing partner’s abilities on ice in the real for the first time. All along I had assumed that as the older, more experienced climber, I would be the one leading (or arranging a guide to get us started independently, because compared rock, ice climbing is intrinsically many times more complex and dangerous, just too many variables). But it turned out that Subhash had acquired solid skills from ice-climbing in the Himalaya, and was an expert at setting up Abalakovs, so I felt fine letting him lead everything, and being a competent follower doing laps on TR to get the mileage I wanted.
As this point one major issue became apparent: there was going to be a heatwave, and it later turned out, Italy’s warmest winter in 135 years. I could see it was ~10 Celsius warmer than my 2022 trip. This meant we were restricted to only the shaded routes and even then we had to back off the upper pitches if it got too warm or sunny. But neither of us was interested in ticking routes; we just wanted mileage on steep ice and rock, and we got lots of it. We also went to some superbly bolted dry-tooling crags.
Some of the routes we climbed (fully or some pitches) in the trip: Sentinel Ice WI4, Patri Gauche WI3, Thoule WI3, Antares WI4, and two roadside ice crags not in the guidebook. I don’t want to read too much into grades because ice forms differently each year/each week. What I do know is my comfort level from last trip to this. This time I was able to do legwork, heel drop, and rest my arms on steep ice, and in the entire trip I did not lose my footing or “take” (hang on the rope) even once, and I could do 2-3 laps on TR continuously, which meant I was getting it. With better weather, perhaps I would have led steep ice, but I am in no rush, I have at least 10 more years to improve! Unlike my previous trip, this time, due to the heat I worried about safety most days and we turned back well before we were tired. On dry-tooling, I on-sighted a D4 and put in upto 6 laps in D4-D5 grade range in a single session, which is a huge leap from last year when I could barely do 2-3 laps. For comparison, I can climb about 20 pitches of rock climbing in a single day session.
In summary, I got 3 to 6 pitches of steep ice or dry-tooling every single day of the trip, with ZERO rest days and ZERO injuries (some days we called off way before we were tired, to keep a safety margin). On the last day I led low-angled pitches just to get lead experience, before changing and packing the suitcase at the crag itself and driving off to Milan at 2pm.
It helped that we stayed in a cozy hotel, with sumptuous breakfast to start, and three-course dinner at the end of a hard day of work in the cold. And having a car obviated needless exposure and walks in the cold, we were easily able to drive around to different valleys: Valsavarenche and Lilaz chasing good weather.
I rate this as one of my most efficient, enjoyable, productive climbing trips and finest partnerships ever. And while I have done dozens of climbing trips in Europe with outstanding partners, this was a first with a climbing partner from India, with whom I could joke in Hindi, and keep a water bottle in the bathroom and not have to explain why.
2024 plans (and the search for the climbing partner)
While I have offers of excellent partnerships in the Himalaya, my work schedule doesn’t allow such travel and acclimatisation time. I prefer the more pointy Alps and focusing on the technical climbing, with the safety of bolted belays and a nice dinner and a cozy heated hotel room. Hence, the Alps it will be. I have a work trip to Zurich in summer 2024 and I plan to catch up with the Zurich hiking group and then take a week off for alpine rock or mixed climbing in the Alps, for which I am exploring partnerships.
I also plan to do an ice trip to Cogne in December 2024, now that I am familiar with the area, and start leading WI3 and more, so, happy to go with a stronger or weaker partner. Feel free to shoot me a message if you wish to discuss more.
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